[Urbannizer]

Kite to build 2 hotels at Pan Am Plaza; city to spend $120M on attached meeting space

https://www.capitalimprovementboard....Renderings.pdf

Indianapolis’ once-celebrated-but-now-underused Pan Am Plaza is the planned site of a $120 million, publicly funded addition to the Indiana Convention Center plus two privately funded Hilton-branded hotels that together would have more than 1,400 rooms.

The Capital Improvement Board voted on Friday to recommend construction of the convention center expansion and to work with Kite Realty Group Trust as the master developer on the project.

The resolution gives the CIB authority to work on a project agreement with Kite and an overall financing model.

The Kite plan was one of three submitted in March in response to the CIB’s request for proposals for another convention-style hotel with 800 to 1,000 rooms.

Mayor Joe Hogsett’s administration has endorsed the Kite plan.

A key component of the project is a 38-story, 800-room hotel that would be developed by Kite and branded as Hilton on the northeast corner of the plaza at Illinois and Georgia streets. It would be Indianapolis’ second-largest hotel, behind only the 1,005-room JW Marriott that opened in 2011.

Kite plans to build a second, 600-room hotel, as well, which would be on the southeast corner of the block at Illinois and Louisiana streets. It also would carry a Hilton brand.

Kite would oversee the construction of the ballroom building, as well, but wouldn’t own it. Indianapolis-based RATIO Architects is the architect on the project.

The project would involve tearing down the underground parking structure, building a podium to support the two-story ballroom and additional meeting space, as well as general property acquisition costs, Cook said. The city also would build the climate-controlled walkway over Capitol Avenue to connect the Indiana Convention Center with the new complex.

The city hopes to win approvals for the project within 12 months, setting the stage for groundbreaking in 2019. The construction is expected to take multiple years, but officials said it would not interfere with activity at the convention center.